Beef brisket makes a simple, cost-effective main course for a crowd. This version is tender, succulent, and delicious. It always gets rave reviews.
Brisket also makes a great sandwich, but it is equally terrific for tacos, enchiladas, and burritos! I find this one tasty and interesting enough to enhance an array of leftovers.
I use a brine to boost the moistness and tenderness of the meat, and a paste that is both spicy and sweet — my favorites. After its water bath, give the brisket a quick sear on a grill, in a cast-iron pan, or under the broiler, and you’re ready to eat.
This preparation is one of my favorite sous vide recipes to date.
Note the brining and cooking time and plan accordingly.
Serves 6 to 8
10
cups cold water
4
cups apple cider
½
cup kosher salt
¼
cup sugar
1
tablespoon black peppercorns
3
bay leaves, broken into smaller pieces
1
4- to 5-pound beef brisket, trimmed, remaining fat scored in cross-hatch pattern
2
tablespoons fennel seeds
1
tablespoon coriander seeds
5
tablespoons black peppercorns
5
tablespoons white peppercorns
2
tablespoons smoked paprika
1½
tablespoons sea salt (smoked sea salt is delicious, too)
5
garlic cloves, smashed and chopped
1
large or 2 small shallots, chopped
½
cup molasses
½
cup packed brown sugar (dark or light)
1
tablespoon honey
1
tablespoon tomato paste
Your favorite prepared barbeque sauce
- Combine the water, cider, salt, sugar, peppercorns, and bay leaves in a large lidded container or sealable plastic bag. Add the brisket, making sure it is completely submerged, cover or seal, and refrigerate for 3 hours.
- Preheat the water bath to 147ºF (64°C).
- Combine the fennel and coriander seeds, peppercorns, paprika, and salt in a spice mill or coffee grinder, and grind until fine. Set aside.
- Combine the garlic, shallots, molasses, sugar, honey, and tomato paste in a food processor or blender and purée until smooth. Add the ground spices and process until the mixture forms a thick, sticky paste.
- Remove the brisket from its brine and pat very dry with paper towels. Coat the meat on all sides with the paste (it’s sticky, so be patient!). Transfer to a large food bag. Before sealing the bag, “massage” the paste further around the brisket from the outside of the bag. Vacuum seal.
- Cook for 48 hours.
- Remove the brisket from the bag and gently wipe off the paste with a paper towel. Brush on a barbeque sauce of your choice. Sear for color by placing the meat under the broiler, on a hot barbeque, or in a cast-iron pan for a few minutes, watching closely to avoid burning. Slice for serving.
I actually just made brisket last night! Yours looks fantastic, I might have to try your rub next time, it sounds really good. I went with a lower temperature than you so it wasn’t as “traditional” but it still was darn tasty.
Brisket is one of the best things I do sous vide. I don’t bother with the brine. I use a basic dry rub and liquid smoke and cook it at 135 for 48 hours. The lower temperature seems to keep it jucy. I sear it with a torch after cooking. I add my favorite commercial sauce (william sonoma’s bourbon and black pepper sauce) after I slice and plate. I like to use the leftovers for a hash, so I don’t want the BBQ sauce on the whole brisket.
This is a great recipe! Just took it out of the oven last night. The meat was moist, intensely flavorful and tender. Just two thoughts:
- My little coffee mill wasn’t able to fully grind the spices when they were all put in together. Next time I’ll grind the fennel and coriander first, then the peppercorns. Then I’ll put everything in including the paprika and salt and give it a final spin to mix.
- The brisket in this recipe comes out surprisingly sweet. I’d definitely recommend a bbq sauce that isn’t very sweet. Next time around I might cut back on either the brown sugar or the sugar in the brine. Do you have a suggestion on which to trim back?
Thanks for a great recipe.
Hey Art, so glad you liked the brisket. Sounds like the BBQ sauce is the culprit on the sweetness, but you could definitely cut back on the brown sugar and the molasses in the paste. Best to keep the sugar in the brine, though.
Great recipe, but boy, did you miss a trick!
Step 8. Carefully pour the meat juices from the bag into a jug.
Step 9. Strain the juices into a saucepan and reduce by boiling vigorously while stirring for about 5 minutes.
You get a wonderful, hot, meaty, spicy, sweet barbecue sauce that is absolutely wonderful with the meat and so much better than those dreadful concoctions of tomato ketchup + worcester sauce and onions so beloved of most bbq recipes out there.
Step 7 could also provide the following: Wipe off the peppercorns and sear with an Iwatani blowtorch until it looks like it just came off the grill.
The above is how my family ate a 2lb brisket today and it was marvellous. Please consider my suggestions – at least try them.
Great additions to the recipe, Brian (that sound is of forehead slapping — Doh!). Thanks for the good feedback…